Refillable pressure spray device



July 1, 1958 w, SCHECK 2,841,190

REFILLABLE PRESSURE SPRAY DEVICE Filed Jan. 14, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 1INVENTOR. WILLIAM SCHECK :4 g TATTOEAEY July 1, 1958 W. SCHECKREFILLABLE PRESSURE SPRAY DEVICE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 14, 1957INVENTOR.

WILIAM SCHECK W AYTURNEV Filed Jan. 14, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.WILLIAM SCHECK ATTURNEY United States Patent O "ice 2,841,190 REFILLABLEPRESSURE SPRAY DEVICE William Scheck, New York, N. Y. 7 ApplicationJanuary 14, 1957, Serial No; 634,026

' i 3 Claims. 01. 141-20 This invention relates to pressure .spraydevices, such as are conventionally employed for spraying insecticides,deodorants, paints, perfumes, and other products. More 7 particularly,the invention has reference to a device of this nature characterized byits adaptability to be refilled and recharged, rather than disposed ofafter it has been emptied of its contents orhas lost pressu're. aerosolbomb or pressure spray device contains the prodnot that is to be"dispensed, together with a suitable propellant such as Freon.Ordinarily, *a device of this type is charged with the propellant andwith the product during the manufacture thereof, and followingexhaustion of the contents or loss of the pressure-supplyingpropellant,the'entire container is usuallydisposed of, together with its valveassembly, etc. A a v,

The above is the most usual form of a device of the character stated,but it is known that it has been heretoparticularly designed to permitmanufacture of the device at arelatively low cost. i

Another object of importance is to so form the capping and valve-supportmeans as to facilitate recharging of the device by the consumer. In thisconnection, the construction is such that the recharging of the devicemay be effected directly through the valve that is ordinarilyemployedfor the purpose of discharging the container contents under pressure,the recharging or. refilling means constituting a part of the inventionand being so designed as to hold the valve in open position, whilemaintaining a seal thereabout, concurrently with the. forcing of a newsupply of propellant through the unseated valve, with the valve movingautomatically to' aclosed position responsive to removal of therefilling means.

Another object of importance is to so form the pressure spray devicethat it can be easily refilled either as de- 'scribedimmediately aboveor alternatively by means of "complete removal of the capping andvalve-support assembly, in a manner adapted for recharging the containerwiththe product to be dispensed, and with the propellant while thepropellant is in an inactive condition, the capping and valve-supportmeans being so designed as to permit its being readilyreturned toposition so that the device is readied for reuse.

.. Still anotherobject of importance is to form a pressure fsprayvdevice of the character described that will be particularly designed tohave the desirable characteristics set -forth,above, while at the sametime being capable of manufacture at a cost no greater than thatrequired for Conventionally, an

2,841,190 Patented July 1, 1958 the manufacture of similar devices nothaving the desirable characteristics of the present invention.

Still another object is to achieve the objects set forth above, while atthe same time permitting use of certain components which are generallyconventional per se, such as a depressible valve mechanism, acontainer-housed flexible valve stem, etc.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects andadvantages thereof, reference will be had to the following descriptionand accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which thevarious novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:V

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pressure spray device made accordingto the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view therethroughsubstantially on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, a portion of the container; beingbroken away.

Fig. 3 is'a top plan view of the device, on the same scale as Fig.2.

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view through the device, on' the samescale as Fig. 2, substantially on line 4--4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a recharging means being brought inposition for charging the same with propellant. 3

Fig. 6 is an enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal sectional view on thesame cutting plane as Fig. 2, showing the recharging means in operativeposition for filling the container.

Fig. 7 is a part elevational and part sectional view of the actuator capfor the container valve.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, longitudinal sectional view on thesame cutting'plane as Fig. 2, showing a modified form of rechargingmeans engaged with the valve of the container in position to unseat thecontainer valve for flow of the propellant into the container.

Fig. 9 is a perspective detail view of the valve actuating device ofFig. 8.

Referring to the drawings in detail, designated generally at 10 is acontainer, formed of metal or any other suitable material, and havingany desired shape. In the illusbeing formed of a slightly tratedexample, the container includes a cylindrical side wall 12 connected at'its lower end to aperipherally beaded bottom plate or lower end wall 14and being open at the top end. At its upper end, side wall 12 isintegral with a stepped, tapering upper end portion 16 terminating atthe upper end of the container in 'an outwardly directed, rolled edge orbead 18 defining immediately below the same a correspondingly outwardlydirected, peripherally extending clamping groove 19.

A closure for the'top of the container includes a clamp ring 20removably applied to the upper end of the container, and integrallyformed on its bottom edge with an outwardly directed, planiform,circumferentially'extending lip 22, the outer edge of which is knurledor otherwise roughened. Ring 20 is of the split, snap ring type,springable material and having a portion cut away as at 24.

It can thus be seen, from the description so far provided, that the ring2tl-can be grasped atopposite sides of the radial slot 24, totemporarily spread the ring slightly against the restraint of itsinherent springability,

thus to permit the ring to be applied to the upper end which is knurledor otherwise. roughened. The inner surface of. flange. 25. is threaded,and the outer surface of the clamp ring is complementarily threaded sothat upon screwing the ring 23 onto clamp ring 20, the assembled closureis. held in place.

' A valve assembly has been; generally designated at 28, and includes. acylindrical. housing 30, which is adapted to contain theinnercomponents, of the valve mechanism. A valve mechanism of the typeillustratedis per se conventional, and. it. is. merely important. tonote, for the purposes of the present invention, that the housing 3t)islfixedly engaged i'na downwardly opening, cylindrical boss- 32centrally formed in a flat cap element. 34 shaped as a deep, upwardlyopening cup. member the side wall of: which, at the. upper end 'of. the.cap. element, is formed withiaacontinuous, circumferential flange 36transversely curved. and opening. downwardly. This defines at theunderside of flange 36 a correspondingly transversely curved grfoove,-.and clampably engaged in said groove is an O-ring 38, formedlof. softrubber or the like and defining a sealing gasket. bearingragainst the.bead 18 as shown in Fig- 2. i

Connected to the lower end of the valve. housing is;an elongated,flexible, plastic tube 40 theinlet end of which is permanently open andis disposed in closely spaced relation. to the bottom of the container.

Axially shiftable within the upper end of the housing 30, and projectingupwardly through a center opening formed in boss 32 is a tubular plunger44, and removably seated on the upper end of said' plunger is acylindrical, manually dcpressible hollow cap 42 formed intermediate itsends with a circumferentially extending, outwardly directed, annularflange 46.. As shown in Fig. 1, above flange 46, cap 42 has a circulardepression, in which is centrally formed a discharge opening 48,communicating with a central discharge passage 49 therethrough.

The valve mechanism is of the type such that the cap 42 is" springbiased by a spring contained within the housing 30 upwardly, to its Fig.2 position, with the valve being closed or seated in this position ofthe cap. By manually pressing downwardly on the cap 42, the valve isunseated, and a pressurized propellant within the container is thusadapted to force the container contents upwardly through tube 40, pastthe unseated valve, and out the discharge port 48 in a fine spray.

It will thus be seen that in initially charging the device, one wouldfirst, with the valve assembly, container ring, and clamp ring removed,deposit within the container a liquid deodorant, paint, insecticide, orother material to be dispensed. Ordinarily, saidmaterial would bedeposited in a cold state, and a propellant in liquid form, 'also in arefrigerated state, would be deposited manner described, the first stepis to attach the clamping ring to the upper end of the container. Themanner in which this is done has been previously described, and

after the split clamping ring has been snapped into place under bead 18,the valve assembly 28 is-mounted in the .open end of the container, withthe O-ring seating at this stage of the operation lightly upon the bead18;

It is then merely necessary to apply the retaining ring 23. The retainerring-is threaded onto the clamping'ring 20, causing the planiform bodyof the retainer ring to force the flange 36 downwardly, compressing theO-ring 38 between flange 36 and head 18 to seal the container.

The container is now ready-for'use, and to dispense the contents; onemerely depresses'the cap or button 42, the contents being dischargedthrough vent 48 in a fine spray in a manner well known in the art.

Assuming that refilling of the containerisdesired, one can follow'thecold filling method onceagain'jby removing the retainer ring and valveassembly. The clamping ring'20 can be left in place during refilling ofthe device in this manner. The parts are then returned to their normalposition shown in Fig. 2, so that the device is again ready for use.

Alternatively, the device can be recharged with a propellant in a mannershown in Figs. 5 and 6. In this situation, it is not necessary that thecontainer 10 be refrigerated, nor is it necessary that the propellant beplaced in the container in a refrigerated state. Instead, the device canbe readily recharged by the ordinary householder, through the use of aseparate container, generally designated at:54, containing a supply ofpropellant, such as Freon. Container 54 has a main valve 56 which ismanually rotated'betweenflclosed andopen positions, and which, whenopen, permits flow of the Freon into a series of connected fittingsproviding an outlet conduit generally designated at 58, that projectslaterally from the valve '56 as shown in Fig, 5. Passage of the Freonthrough the conduit'58 iszcontrolled. by a valve assembly attached tothe outer endthereof. This assembly includes ahollow valve body 60containing the: valve mechanism, the body having a threadedinlet neck61. connected-to the conduit 58 anda threaded outlet neck. 63. Analuminum cylindrical member 64isthreaded on: the outlet neck 63 and isformed with a central countersunk recess 66. A rubber pad '68i's-fitted. in' the recess 67 andis provided with a central bore throughwhich extends a tubular member- 70 dependingfrom andimcomrnunicationwith the interior of the valve body 60. The tubular memberprotr'udes-below the pad 68. A handle71 operates the valve mechanism andis adapted to be manually turned toeither open or close the valve.

In use, the up 42 01? the container valve 1s removed and the tubularmember 70i's inserted into the tubular plunger or stem 44 of valve28,thecylinder 64 shdably contacting the side wall of. the cap element 34permitting! this operation, the cylinder serving as a gu1de. The handle71 is turned'toopen the valve and the pad 68 is pressed against the topof the. tubular plunger 44 thereby depressing the. same andopening thevalve 28 permitting the Freon to flow through the tube 40 into thecontainer 10 to refill the same.

Of course, before recharging of the'device with a propellant, thecontainer 10 wouldbe refilled with the product that is to be dispensed.This" is done merely by removing the retainer ring and valve assembly,and depositiing-a suitable quantity of the product within the containerIn these circumstances, the container and the product need notbespecially refrigerated, since the propellant? will not beaddedi'until'. after the container has again been sealed, the propellantthen beingadded in the manner shown in Figs. 5-6;

It will be. seen that the:arrangement'shown in Figs. 5-6 embodies the'novel feature ofpermitting'recharging of the pressure spray device with?a" suitable gaseous propellantdirectly through thedispensing'valve ofthe spray device, with said valve' being unseated'responsive merely toapplication of therecharging means thereto. The valve, thus, is openedonly responsive to downward pressure exerted through themedium of thepad 68, which downward 'pressure-atthe same time causes the pad tocompress to effect a seal about the tubular plunger 44. The seal isbroken andthe valve'assembly 28 is automatically closed responsive toremoval of the recharging means.

This arrangement, of. course, has the. highly desirable feature that itpermits recharging, of the device by an ordinary, unskilled person suchas the average householder, without'requiring special refrigerating ofthepropellant, the container or the product. A suitable quantity ofpropellant can be kept in the. household, and from Itime' to time,whenever the propell'antwithin the pressure spray device 'ie exhausted,the samecan be recharged 75 so that the aeroso1bomb-orspray device canbeused V 7 over and over again without the necessity of its beingdiscarded, which necessity obtains in almost all instances where aerosolbombs are used at the present time. The number of products that can beemployed are of course almost limitless, and can constitute sun tanpreparations, inks, hair sprays, antiseptics, and even ingredients forcocktails or other beverages. The construction has the further desirablecharacteristic that one is permitted to concoct his own compounds ofpaint, private formulas, etc., for dispensing in a spray. Still further,companies manufacturing propellants, and which may desire to increasethe areas in which their products are merchandised, are by reason of theinvention, provided with a new field within which to expand theiractivities.

In the modification of Figs. 8 and 9, another manner of refilling acontainer such as the container shown therein is disclosed. Here againit is not necessary that the container 10 be refrigerated, nor is itnecessary that the propellant be placed in the container in arefrigerated.

state. Instead, the container can be readily refilled by the user,through the use of a separate container 54 containing a supply ofpropellant, such as Freon, and a valve actuating member 80. Thecontainer 10 has no cap or head 52 closing the plunger 44'. Container 54is identical in construction with container 10' including the valvemechanism thereof with the plunger 44.

The valve actuating member 80 serves also as a means for connecting thetubular plunger members 44 and provides a pipe line between the supplycontainer 54' and the container 10' being refilled.

This valve member 80 has a cylindrical body 81 formed with an axial bore82 having a restricted inner end portion leading to a central narrowhole in the closure wall at the end of the body. A tubular stem 84substantially of the same diameter as the narrow hole is secured to theclosure. wall and protrudes outwardly therefrom, leaving a shouldertherearound. A washer 85 of cushioning material such as rubber is seatedon the shoulder formed by the stem.

In order to refill the container 10', the valve actuating and connectingdevice 80 is mounted on the plunger 44 of the container 10' with thestem 84 thereof inserted into the axial opening in the plunger and withthe Washer 85 seated on the outer end of the plunger. The supplycontainer 54 is inverted and its plunger 44' inserted into the bore 82of the device 80 until it is seated on the shoulder formed by therestricted portion 83 of the bore of the device. Downward pressure uponthe supply container will force the plunger 44 of the supply container54 inwardly unseating the valve mechanism therein to permit the contentsthereof to become discharged. Simultaneously, upon such pressure, theplunger 44' of the container 10' being refilled will be forced inwardlyto unseat the valve mechanism in said container whereby the dischargedcontents will pass through the device 80 and into and through theplunger 44' of the container 10' to the interior thereof to refill thesame. The containers may readily be disconnected when the container 10'is refilled. In all other respects, the form of invention shown in Figs.8 and 9 is similar to the form shown in Figs. 1-7 and similar referencenumerals are used to indicate similar parts.

While I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of myinvention, it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to theprecise constructions herein disclosed and that various changes andmodifications may be made within the scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by United States Letters Patent 1. In combination, a pressurespray device and recharging means therefor, said spray device comprisinga container having an open end, a closure for said open end including adish-shaped cap having a central opening, a

dispensing valve assembly supported on said cap, said assembly includinga tubular outlet plunger in the central opening in the cap communicatingwith the interior of the container and protruding outwardly thereof, adepressible valve actuating cap rem'ovably seated on the outer end ofsaid plunger outlet, said actuating cap having a discharge port, saidrecharging means including a propellant container holding a gaseouspropellant under pressure, a dispensing valve assembly attached to thepropellant container, a recharging valve assembly attached to saidlatter dispensing valve assembly, said recharging valve assemblyincluding a hollow valve body having an outlet neck portion, acylindrical member mounted on said neck portion, a resilient pad carriedby said cylindrical member, said member and pad having aligned centralbores, a tubular outlet member depending from the valve body andextending through said bores outwardly of the pad, said tubular outletmember extending into the tubular plunger outlet of the containerforming a pipe line therewith, said pad contacting the outer end of saidplunger outlet for actuating the same when the depressible cap isremoved to open the valve in the spray device container, saidcylindrical member contacting the side wall of said inner surface of thedish-shaped cap for guiding the movement of the tubular outlet member ofthe recharging valve assembly into the tubular plunger of the containervalve assembly.

2. In combination, a pressure spray device and recharging meanstherefor, said spray device and recharging means each comprising acontainer open at one end, a valve assembly seated in said end of eachcontainer for opening and closing said end, each valve assemblyincluding a tublular plunger member, and a valve operating deviceseating on the ends of the tubular plunger members when the containersare in closely spaced opposed end to end relation, said valve operatingdevice comprising a cylindrical body having an axial bore and being openat one end and closed at its other end with the bore passing throughsaid closed end, said bore having'a restricted end at the closed end ofthe body, and a stem of narrower diameter than the-body and having anaxial bore therethrough, said stem being secured to the closed end ofthe body and in communication with said bore, and a rubber washer aroundthe stem and being seated on the closed end of the body, the open end ofsaid body receiving the tubular plunger of one of said.

containers, the stem of the device extending into the tubular plunger ofthe other container with the washer interposed between said latterplunger and body whereby said plungers are connected and whereby uponendwise pressure on one of said containers, the plungers of bothcontainers are moved inwardly to unseat the valve mechanism in saidcontainers for passage of the contents of one container to the othercontainer when the containers are in vertical position.

3. In combination, a container for holding liquid under compression,recharging apparatus therefor comprising a container holding a gaseouspropellant under pressure, a dispensing valve assembly attached to thepropellant container, a recharging valve assembly attached to saiddispensing valve assembly, said liquid container being provided with anopen end, a closure for said open end of the container, a dispensingvalve assembly supported on said closure, said latter assembly includinga tubular outlet plunger communicating with the interior of said liquidcontainer, 2. depressible valve actuating cap having a discharge port,said recharging apparatus including a hollow valve body having an outletneck portion, a cylindrical member mounted on said neck portion, aresilient pad carried by said cylindrical member, said member and padhaving aligned central bores, a tubular outlet member depending from thevalve body and extending through said bores outwardly of the pad, saidtubular outlet member extending into the tubular plunger outlet of theliquid container forming a 7 pipe line therewith, said pad' contactingthe outer end of said plunger o'pflet for" actuating the same when thedepressible' cap isreniovefdto open the valve in the cont h ReferencesCited in' the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,037,680Spitze'nberg Sept. 3, 1912 8 Schanze et a1. Mar. 10, 1931 Seaberg June8, 1954 Peterson Dec. 27, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS

